Because of the speed of their cell renewal. Yep. That’s the difference between the skin of a baby compared to the skin of a teen, compared to the skin of someone in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50+
Your skin, no matter what stage in life you’re in, is constantly producing new cells, with new cells travelling from the lower layers of skin to the top. Once at the top, they shed to reveal softer, younger-looking, more radiant, healthier skin.
The faster it regenerates, the younger your skin will look and the slower it regenerates, well, you guessed it, the older your skin will look, with a build-up of dead skin resulting in dull, devitalised, and sluggish skin.
As you age, the time it takes your skin to renew itself slows down. Dramatically. Here’s the average rate of skin cell turnover
- Babies, 14 days
- Teenagers, 21-28 days
- Twenties, 24-30 days
- Thirties, 28-35 days
- Forties, 30- 42 days
- Fifties++, 45-84 days
So, it stands to reason that if we want our skin to look younger, we need to consistently get rid of the accumulated dead skin through exfoliation, right? But there’s something else we can do that will kinda fool the skin into behaving younger than it actually is. Home Dermal Rolling. The most results-producing at home treatment you can possibly give yourself.
As you can see pictured, a home dermal roller device features a cylindrical body covered in tiny little needles, attached to handle. There is a variety of these devices on the market that range from having 200 needles to 600 needles.
When rolled on the skin, the needles prick the skin, creating ‘micro-injuries’ or micro trauma, to the skin. Once this trauma is created, the skin needs to work extra hard to kick-in the natural healing process to start repairing.
This in turn increases epidermal growth factors which accelerate the production of collagen, the protein that keeps our skin from sagging, giving is us that plump, youthful appearance. And because our own collagen also decreases in production as we age, (resulting in lines, wrinkles, loss of firmness), accelerating our collagen production with a roller is a must for any savvy home skincare regime.
In addition, the dermal roller creates micro channels in the skin, creating the ultimate delivery channel for a deeper penetration of topically applied active skincare ingredients, making your homecare, in particular your serums, work better and faster. You can increase absorption of serums up to 200%.
A third benefit of the dermal roller is that it disrupts the bonds between cells, causing them to break so that dead skin sloughs off quicker, revealing the fresh new cells.
At home dermal rolling is a great tool to help you achieve the best results for:
- Brighter skin
- Improves skin texture
- Microcirculation (brighter more radiant skin)
- Pore refinement
- Hydration
- Minimise the appearance of lines and wrinkles
- Firmer skin tone
Except for skins with active acne or certain skin sensitivities such as rosacea, almost all skins benefit greatly with the use of dermal rollers.
Even though 600 tiny needles rolling on your face, dermal rolling is not painful. It’s more of a tingly feeling. After, you may feel slight (very slight) discomfort, a little swelling and redness and a little sensitive to the touch, but this won’t last long. It is however, letting you know it’s doing its job!
When it comes to using a home roller, you must make sure you’re using it the right way.
Mentally divide your face into 9 sections and you’ll be addressing one section at a time.
- Double cleanse your skin thoroughly to lift away any dirt, makeup, and debris you’ve collected during the day
- Rinse and pat dry the skin
- Taking one section at a time, gently roll an area up and down three to four times. Before moving on to the next area of the section, lift your roller off the skin. Do not drag the roller
- Once the area is completed, repeat across the area
- Then diagonally one way
- Then diagonally the other way
- Repeat on other sections of the skin
- Apply your Vitamin A or Hyaluronic Acid serum and moisturiser
Sanitize your dermal roller by running it under warm to hot water and then spray all over with 70% Isopropyl spray neat. Return to its container. For extra hygiene repeat before use leaving it on a clean dry surface to allow disinfection action for 10 minutes allowing for disinfection action and the alcohol to evaporate. Don’t rinse. Use once dry.
Start slowly once a week, building up to 2 to 3 times a week.
A good quality home roller will last between 3 to 6 months, depending on the number of weekly uses.
Great question and an important one to answer. Whilst both treatments have needles running over your skin, what each offer in terms of results is substantially different. As previously said, home dermal rollers are available in depths no more than .3mm. Although the results can be amazing, especially with extended and consistent use, its main benefit is it’s exfoliating effects and the micro channels it produces to couple with your at-home actives, making them work deeper and faster.
In-clinic Microneedling treatments, work at a much deeper level, creating more profound trauma to the skin invoking a deeper wound healing response. Depending on the area being targeted, interchangeable needles withing the one treatment will vary in length between 1.5 to 2.5mm. Phenomenal results can be achieved in the areas of treating skin concerns such as hyperpigmentation, melasma, acne scarring, deeper lines, enlarged pores, stretch marks and even rosacea. The result is a much tailored and effective treatment than dermal rolling. Most commonly, for great results 3-4 treatments are recommend a month apart.
Not everyone will need in-clinic microneedling treatments but almost everyone will benefit greatly from regular home treatments.
At Essence we use and supply Ultraceuticals and MTS home rolling devices, both precision, high quality tools. We are happy to answer any questions you have – don’t miss out on this simple but effective way to achieve radiant, youthful skin.
